TenGoku Aburiya

Came because I saw a post about TenGoku's 4 year anniversary! I was able to get a reservation same day and was surprised it wasn't more busy but could just be a weekday lull. We are too quickly before I could get a picture of each item. We didn't realize each of the smaller dishes had 3 pieces and ended up getting double of each for our table of 6 and also ordering another round of main dishes. They were out of Kama which was sad.We ultimately tried:Tako yaki - soft with a good ratio of octopusIkageso karaage - the pieces could have been smaller as the texture was a bit hard to bite through and was slightly large for a single biteAgedashi - very crispy outside and soft inside, good balance of sauce, bonito and scallionsChef Choice kushiyaki - a lot less than I was expecting (1 skewer of each type); my favorite was the chicken skin, super crunchy and good flavor. The shishito had a couple old peppers that were tough to bite. Chadol enoki - was okay, couldn't really taste the brisket but definitely had the texture of the enoki inside. Negima - tender, not super interesting though. Forgot what the last skewer was.Kimchi okonomiyaki - soft, good flavor, kimchi wasn't super sour.Maze Soba Udon - my favorite out of everything. The yolk made it creamy. The ground meat topping and sauce was very flavorful. There was a good amount of scallions to cute the salt/oil. They also had a little bottle of vinegar for you to add to taste. I would happily just eat this.Kuma maki - smoke salmon on top of the roll. Crab inside. The crab meat wasn't special, kind of taste like imitation crab. The roll was decently sized tho.Tokyo maki - couldn't tell where the octopus was but the spicy tuna mounded on each piece felt like I was eating tuna tartare. I liked this one.I wish they had like small vs large plate options with piece counts for the small hot dishes since it's hard to estimate how easy it would be to split dishes and let everyone try a little.Service was very nice. They checked in often, which was helpful when we realized we massively under ordered. Flavor wise everything was good, nothing too salty or weird. A smaller group might have an easier time ordering to share but I would love to see them offer more suggested combos targeted to larger groups as there's a lot to try.

Food: the skewers were served lukewarm and just ok. Lacked the grill taste. The wagyu fried rice was bland. The sushi very very good. Service was great and ambiance was fine. Really wanted to love this place as i miss Sumi Robata very much but would only come back here for the sushi

This is one of our regular lunch spots because the food is great! I'd definitely recommend the lollipop wings and any of the sushi. There's a bunch of different Sakes to try if you're into that. However, the service definitely leaves something to be desired.Every time we go, the food comes out at different times - never together. Sometimes there's even 10-15 minutes in between someone receiving their food and the rest of the food. I understand they want to send the food out when it's hot, but it ends up being cold by the time the rest of the table gets their food. The last time we went, one person in our group received their entree about 10 minutes before we even got our drinks. 10-15 minutes later the rest of the entrees came out. Probably 20 minutes later the APPETIZERS came out. It was just a complete mess and not a great dining experience. Our waitress mentioned they had just gotten a rush but the restaurant was not very busy and no signs of takeout orders coming in/out. Like I said, the food is great, however the service makes me not want to return as I know it's going to be a lengthy, disorganized meal. There is no reason why an entree should come out before even receiving the drinks that were ordered immediately (probably 20 minutes before we even ordered food).

Loved our experience at Omakase Yume and this is its more casual sister. Our neighborhood sushi destination and everything is good - from their lunch bento sets to their rolls and their sashimi sets. The latest pick up order of chefs selection of sashimi and Negi toro roll were so delicious, fresh and flavorful. I wish they wrote on the clear top what each fish was bc I would totally order them a la carte again. Dine service was always friendly and fast (shout out to Jasmin from prior lunch services). Highly recommend and good bang for your buck and the fish selection is good.

TenGoku is a good, reasonably-priced alternative to its sister restaurant, Omakase Yume. I believe the skewers are the reason people come here but you have to try the sushi! I got the chef's special maki platter and it was so good! I also tried the chadol enoki, shio pork belly, shiitake mushrooms, and the wagyu fried rice. the chadol enoki had a great flavor to it, however, i like taking small bites of my food and it's pretty hard to bite into this, so you have to eat each piece in one bite. the pork belly was decent but could be cooked longer (i like my pork belly extra crispy). the shiitake mushrooms were good but nothing special. finally, the wagyu fried rice was cooked perfectly but could use a little more flavor. for drinks, i really liked the yuzu flavored kimino sparkling!

Back for the skewers!Gyutan is a must try, love the thick cut! Unagi is so good, don't miss chicken skin. If you are sushi lover, trust me, otoro and sake will make your day!

TenGoku Aburiya is the sister restaurant of Michelin-starred Omakase Yume and boy does it deliver. So refreshing to see Japanese restaurants that serve more than just ramen and sushi in Chicago. If you take anything from this review, let it be to get the Maze Soba.

I came here a few times with some coworkers for lunch during the 2024 Chicago Restaurant Week and as well as just regular lunch! we were pleasantly surprised by the variety of food that came with it for $25. The service here was amazing and it has a very cute trendy mom and pop feel to the inside. I'd come back again!

Only great place for the restaurant week in 2024 that I tried. Definitely will come back to enjoy the regular menu.The food was fresh, I chose all the seafood choices and the sake pairing for $59+$18, also had a taste of my team's other choices, and everything was tasty, and you could tell the restaurant owner or chef could be Korean from the food taste.The servers were super nice and introduced the food with patience, the only thing is we had a party of 5 ppl, and the reserved time was only 2 hours, finally, we had a rush to leave coz they had to make the table for the next reservation.I enjoy the vibe in the restaurant, good for hangout or date night.They will charge 20% tips with parties over 5 ppl, which I think should be 18% in other restaurants. This is the only problem that I have to leave 4 stars.

Omakase Yume opened their sister restaurant and I needed to try it because... well I probably have a higher chance of eating at TenGoku LOL. I thought most of the things at TenGoku were reasonably priced. I wanted to have Yume's quality of sushi so I had their omakase set. Each piece was delicious and flavorful, and every fish was fresh. I also got the Clam & Mussel Sakamushi and I didn't find it so flavorful but the clam and mussel tasted fresh and clean. My friend also loved his sukiyaki.The staff were very accommodating and attentive. I thought the service was great.